From India- EBV positive - Please guide me

I am writing from India. I am male, 41 years old, and for the past year I have been having various weird symptoms My WBC count and my eosinophils went high about a year and a half ago. The EBC was 13000 and the esonophils were 30. I had a sexual encounter involving analingus around a month before I did the CBC in which these counts came high . The doctor here gave me a 3 month course of an anti-helmintic medicine called hetrazan (diethylcarbamazine). After this treatment my WBC and eosinophils came down. But slowly and steadily weird symptoms started and kept increasing. The WBC and eosinophil count again went a bit above normal range. I then took a course of humaworm parasite cleanse and the eosinophils came down to normal and my WBC is now 10000.

After a whole agonising year of all tests coming normal , finally I got a EBV test done and both the IgG and IgM have come out positive - I do not know the titers as the labs here say they dont do titers !!

My symptoms are neuromuscular pain, rarely spasms in hands and feet, stomach bloating and hardness, some light sensitivity , migrating back pain. bone pain (not sure if bone or muscle or nerve), fatigue ( but not much ) , dizziness sometimes , and my neck and shoulder are very tight. My left chest , neck, shoulder and back seem so tight sometimes but sometimes better. Also, my upper left abdomen seems a bit hard and swollen and 2 weeks back when I was doing a bending down exercise I got this sharp pain in my left upper abdomen which became better in 5 minutes but still some soreness. I did a USG done - spleen size is normal and it says fatty, mildly enlarged liver but the doctor said that may be due to my being overweight. Rarely, I get insect bite kind sensations in my feet. Have a small boil/tender spot on my head which sometimes gets this "stretchy/biting" kind of feel - tough to describe. One spot in my upper left back seems tender too and i get this "electric current" kind feeling there. Sometimes throat feels a bit tight but not everyday.

Do all these sound like EBV symptoms ?

What should I do ? I have been looking at natural treatments like Lauricidin, Microbojen from Jernigan labs and MMS. ..... Or should I just start Valtrex which I can get on my own here in India, without a doctors prescription ?

I think it will be hard to comment on your situation with the information you have given us. Most everyone here (and most of the general population) will test positive to EBV--but the question is the titers. I think the positive IgM means an active infection (you can check online).

It seems odd that no lab will do titers--maybe keep looking. Can you get a virus panel done to see if you have other active viruses? Also, since you have gut symptoms, a very good stool/digestive test might reveal something. Many here have "leaky gut" and gut infections. It is good that you did a parasite cleanse but there can be many other types of gut problems too.

Many of the symptoms that you have are not specific to ME/CFS--well, not many symptoms are! One symptom that is very common with ME/CFS is what they call PEM which stands for post exertional malaise--what this really means is that exertion or exercise increases your symptoms. For many one day of over-exertion will put a patient in bed for several days. Is this a problem for you?

I hope you are in a large city where you may have access to specialized medical care--even though there are probably not any doctors who are ME/CFS specialists.

Keep reading here and asking questions and you may learn some helpful things.

I believe the only time that your IgM antibodies are present are during your initial infection and they will stay elevated until you initial infection has been brought under control. If you have had IgM antibodies present for that long your immune system is more than likely compromise to some extent. It's possible you have other co-infections present such as CMV, HHV6 and others.

I'm not trying to diagnose your condition, but it appears to me that you need some more testing and that your physician would probably want to give you some type of anti-viral medicine.

You may want to print out the information that Timaca referred you too and take that to your physician.

I don't understand either why some countries don't performed titres either. I don't think Australia does either.

It's very hard to do diagnosis over the computer and most people on this site are not healthcare professionals. Here are my thoughts:

1) I know you've mentioned having a lot of tests done but were those in conjunction with physicians you trusted/ respected or who were recommended to you? Tests have to be interpreted in light of the clinical situation. Also, if you have not discussed your sexual history with your doc, please do so and do it truthfully -- that might change the picture. It's not anything to be embarrassed about and if your doc makes you feel bad about it, find another doc.

2) Most people that are posters on the site at least come from the US/ Europe/ Canada/ Australia. Being in India, the nature of what you have and what may be causing it might be very different from what we are used to hearing.

3) Sushi alludes to PEM. PEM includes not only fatigue after minimal physical (or mental) exertion feeling confused, having worsening insomnia, enlarged lymph nodes, sore throat, flu-like feelings, etc. after exertion. Do you have any of this? How is your functioning? Are you able to do what you have to or want to do without feeling tired?

I do have fatigue - more than average I would say - I think I do have some PEM - but I dont think I have extreme fatigue or non ability to function due to fatigue - I sleep well. Lately sometimes I get this bit of tightness in throat feeling but its not there everyday. Sometimes though I will suddenly feel really tired and just want to sleep right then. The docs do not think my lymph nodes are enlarged.Yes, I do sometimes feel flu-like but I dont think I actually get fever.

I also have neuromuscular pain and sometimes peripheral neuropathies like pins and needles etc - I read online these can also be EBV symptoms ?

I have been to many doctors and most dont seem to take me seriously and brush me off- am going to show another doctor but in the meantime could experienced members please tell me if I should take natural treatments like Lauricidin, Microbojen from Jernigan labs and MMS. ..... Or should I just start Valtrex which I can get on my own here in India, without a doctors prescription ?

I'm not very familiar with parasites but since you have localized pain, on your boil that feels like something is biting and stretching?? also pain within one side of your upper back.. I'm not sure that mono would cause that. Have you looked into taking anything besides the humaworm cleanse?? I know in the u.s. we can get products over the counter that have Pyrantel pamoate. This can be effective against, hookworms, roundworms and pinworms. Biltricide is supposed to be good for tapeworms. Here in the u.s. we need a perscription for it. Mono is very tough depending on when a person gets it. PEM is definitely something I experienced, mostly for the first year it was all malaise. It may be that you had it once before at it has been reactivated. Maybe your immune system is weakened from getting another virus of some type, or parasite and it's can't control the mono and this is a side effect?

You have ruled out a b12 deficiency causing the pins and needles? You also mentioned MMS, maybe that would help too. I haven;t tried it, but I don't think I would use it unless I had sometype of probiotic to help repopulate the intestines, or better yet a milk kefir if possible. There are natural products that help reduce biofilms if you are worried about that.. nattokinase and serripeptidase?.. I can't remember the spelling. Also, I hope you can find a good doctor that knows about the types of pathogens, diseases, parasites and such that are prevalent there. I think that would help.
Take care.
David

Not much to add to previous posts other than reiterate the B12 suggestion, particularly if you are vegetarian.

If you have already responded to parasites treatment then I'd stick to that. Parasites can mess up the immune system and cause viruses to reactivate.
They are extremely hard to get rid off and you have to hit them repeatedly over time because of their complex life cycles and the fact that antiparasitics are only effective in specific phases e.g. larvae or eggs.
There's an elaborate protocol on another thread

I am writing from India. I am male, 41 years old, and for the past year I have been having various weird symptoms My WBC count and my eosinophils went high about a year and a half ago. The EBC was 13000 and the esonophils were 30. I had a sexual encounter involving analingus around a month before I did the.....

Deepak - just to say if you try Lauricidon, Samento etc, start with very low doses and only start one a a time so that you can gauge your response. This is how I was advised to start Samento, eg.first day - 1 drop in one glass of water, drink a quarter of the water, then if okay next day drink half a glass,slowly work up to 15drops a day.
Same with Lauricidin - only start with a few beads initially to gauge your response, build up slowly.
If you are going to try Valtrex you really should be under the care of a physician for regular health checks, kidney/liver function etc, but there is plenty of info about dosing available. Good luck its very hard and we're all fighting our way through it, just hope you find something that will help you.

Not much to add to previous posts other than reiterate the B12 suggestion, particularly if you are vegetarian.

If you have already responded to parasites treatment then I'd stick to that. Parasites can mess up the immune system and cause viruses to reactivate.
They are extremely hard to get rid off and you have to hit them repeatedly over time because of their complex life cycles and the fact that antiparasitics are only effective in specific phases e.g. larvae or eggs.
There's an elaborate protocol on another thread

I read you have done this parasite protocol many times - You also say better to start on a low dose and shorter time frame - do you have any more details on how low a dose and what time frame ?

What effects did you get by doing this protocol and what are your parasite symptoms ??

Click to expand...

Hi,
I pm'd you (sorry I was away for a few days)

I forgot to mention a couple of important points.

My understanding of this protocol is that it was devised to target the widest variety of parasites. Obviously what I have may differ from what you or others have. So some of the drugs may be more or less relevant.

If you go for it, I believe it's important to note how you react to each individual med. In particular read the label and the side effects section.
Specific reactions are mentioned in respect of specific parasites.
Parasite A for .e.g may give you a very different reaction, to the same med, from parasite B . This allows you to have an idea of which ones work best for you.

Note that some of these reactions can be quite intense.
When parasite eggs or larvae in your brain or nerve tissues pop, which I believe I had, or dead worms start accumulating in your blood, I guarantee that's not a pretty feeling.

Also these drugs make you liver work hard. For this reason, in parallel, I took lots of milk thistle, turmeric and a mix of reishi and cordyceps mushrooms extract. I also did a lot methylation supplements.
You mentioned some liver issues. Personally I wouldn't start the protocol until a few weeks of liver support/regeneration first. In addition, I would take some B12 and methylation to rev up your liver glutathione stores, particulalry if you're vegetarian. But I wouldn't take other supplements as these may actually strengthen parasites.

Last but not least. Some have mentioned that a low-fat diet helps against parasites. I tried it and it made improvements come a lot faster.

My understanding of this protocol is that it was devised to target the widest variety of parasites. Obviously what I have may differ from what you or others have. So some of the drugs may be more or less relevant.

If you go for it, I believe it's important to note how you react to each individual med. In particular read the label and the side effects section.
Specific reactions are mentioned in respect of specific parasites.
Parasite A for .e.g may give you a very different reaction, to the same med, from parasite B . This allows you to have an idea of which ones work best for you.

Note that some of these reactions can be quite intense.
When parasite eggs or larvae in your brain or nerve tissues pop, which I believe I had, or dead worms start accumulating in your blood, I guarantee that's not a pretty feeling.

Also these drugs make you liver work hard. For this reason, in parallel, I took lots of milk thistle, turmeric and a mix of reishi and cordyceps mushrooms extract. I also did a lot methylation supplements.
You mentioned some liver issues. Personally I wouldn't start the protocol until a few weeks of liver support/regeneration first. In addition, I would take some B12 and methylation to rev up your liver glutathione stores, particulalry if you're vegetarian. But I wouldn't take other supplements as these may actually strengthen parasites.

Last but not least. Some have mentioned that a low-fat diet helps against parasites. I tried it and it made improvements come a lot faster.

I had read about parasites and how they can disrupt the immune system and certain parasites live in symbiosis with bacteria and viruses helping each other.

Then I saw a couple of articles where Dr K and others said that they treat parasites, bacteria and viruses in that order.
The reason being that after parasites are gone, the immune system can fight the other bugs much better.